This summer’s second concert by the Festival Orchestra, conducted by Larry Rachleff, takes place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 29, in the Granada Theater. The fairly Manichean program will consist of “Decoration Day” from Charles Ives‘ “Holidays Symphony“ (1904-13), and Dmitri Shostakovich‘s “Symphony No. 11, ‘The Year 1905’” (1957).
When I first learned Michael Tilson Thomas had to cancel his festival appearances to have cardiac surgery (I am 100 percent certain that, given a choice, he would have preferred to be here with us), I had not yet looked at the summer schedule in detail.
At that time, I learned three of his appearances with the orchestra would be taken by other conductors. Then, I looked at the schedule and saw this Shostakovich symphony was to be performed, and I assumed that — given his long history of championing this work (he conducted it at the Arlington, with the San Francisco Symphony) — this was one of the concerts Tilson Thomas would have conducted, had he been able to be here.
Not so: it was always going to be Maestro Rachleff on the podium, and for all I know, the Shostakovich was his choice, not that of Tilson Thomas. It is always risky to base conclusions on insufficient evidence. Still, I rejoice that this great work is gaining traction on our programs.
Shostakovich’s music is uniquely visual in its effect — transparent, panoramic, I seem to see great historical events writhing and brooding in its depths.
In this symphony, the Revolution of 1905 comes alive, protesters march through the squares, Cossacks ride them down, sailors rise against their officers, the cataclysms of 1917 are rehearsed, in the wake of a prior crushing military defeat (this one at the hands of the Japanese).
In the otherwise undistinguished film of Robert Massie‘s Nicholas and Alexandra, there is a great scene: It is August 1914, we are in the operations room of the Imperial military, the generals cannot contain their excitement as the (horse-drawn) Russian steamroller begins to lurch westward toward Germany and Austria, and a civilian minister warns:
“Which of us will be in this room when this war is over?” None of them, as it turns out. They never learn.
Charles Ives’s music tends to be either ethereal and haunting or brash and irritating— often in the same composition. Few of his works maintain the former mood throughout — The Unanswered Question comes to mind — but Decoration Day (the holiday we now call Memorial Day) comes pretty close.
Toward the end, there is a commotion in the brass and percussion sections, and a marching band crashes across the stage, before the memorial tides close over them, like the Red Sea over pharaoh’s army, and a respectful sorrow again reigns supreme.
Tickets to this concert are $40-$100 (those ages 7-17 enter free, with ticketed adult), and can be purchased at the Granada Theatre ticket office, 1214 State St., by phone at 805-969-8787 or 805-899-2222, or online at www.musicacademy.org.
— Gerald Carpenter covers the arts as a Noozhawk contributing writer. He can be reached at gerald.carpenter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are his own.